Honky Tonk Masquerade
by Joe Ely

Honky Tonk Masquerade by Joe Ely
Year: 1978
Overall rank: 24,051st   
Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 35 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1978 (296th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (2,821st)
Award Best albums of all time (24,051st)

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Joe Ely bestography

Honky Tonk Masquerade is ranked 2nd best out of 18 albums by Joe Ely on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Joe Ely is Joe Ely which is ranked number 19250 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 55.

Joe Ely album bestography « Higher ranked (19,250th)
Joe Ely
This album (24,051st)
Honky Tonk Masquerade
Lower ranked (35,917th) »
Down On The Drag

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Honky Tonk Masquerade track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 74 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Average Rating: 75 (8 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 75 (9 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 75 (9 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 72 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 73 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 76 (8 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 76 (8 votes)Comments: View 0
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Average Rating: 71 (8 votes)Comments: View 0
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Honky Tonk Masquerade rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 24,051st | 1970s rank: 2,821st | 1978 rank: 296th

Honky Tonk Masquerade collection

Honky Tonk Masquerade ratings

Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 35 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 35 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 !
01/02/2026 15:59 platus   5,80874/100
 
50/100
 !
12/02/2025 15:18 Jakor   4,91769/100
 
85/100
 !
05/24/2024 11:33 ElstonGunnn   89282/100
 
55/100
 !
04/25/2024 08:29 jonny5244   8,42263/100
 
60/100
 !
04/21/2024 15:54 TonySayers61   23,34264/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 72.2/100, a mean average of 70.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 72.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 21.2.

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Honky Tonk Masquerade favourites

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Honky Tonk Masquerade comments

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Rating:  
90/100
From 03/02/2022 02:55 | #282102
Classics here-- "Boxcars,""Fingernails,""Because the Wind"
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 11/27/2021 16:38 | #276761
Joe Ely's second studio album, released on RCA, continues his excellent blend of live roadhouse rock, complete with enough pedal steel and accordion to make you think it's either country or folk music, respectively.

Ely's formula is the same as his first record. Tight performances with a live and collaborative sound. As far as the material, Ely again brings in material from the two other members of the defunct Flatlanders trio. Butch Hancock provides the tongue-in-cheek Jericho and the forlorn Boxcars. Also here is Hancock's original "West Texas Waltzes," the title track off his debut record, also released in 1978 but on his own independent (ie out of print) label. And Jimmie Dale Gilmore contributes his seminal Tonight I'm Gonna Go Downtown, which is so sad that it could have been penned by the Hillbilly Shakespeare himself. But don't shed a year, Ely decides a Hank Williams cover fits nicely in this set and closes the LP with "Honky Tonkin."

And Ely provides some charming material of his own. Fingernails is hysterical.

For anyone looking for some soul and character in their country music, I can't recommend Ely's early albums enough.

For a major label record, this is fervently non-commercial and therefore unique for this era.

Essential.

A Side: Boxcars
B Side: Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 09/08/2021 17:09 | #273533
simple messages are fun and light country and western and honky tonk
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 02/03/2018 14:14 | #207066
This is good. I'm a little ambivalent about "country-rock," but the quality here is evident.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1978
1. Darkness On The Edge Of Town by Bruce Springsteen
2. Parallel Lines by Blondie
3. The Cars by The Cars
4. This Year's Model by Elvis Costello
5. Die Mensch·Maschine by Kraftwerk
6. Van Halen by Van Halen
7. Music For 18 Musicians by Steve Reich
8. The Kick Inside by Kate Bush
9. Some Girls by The Rolling Stones
10. More Songs About Buildings And Food by Talking Heads
11. Hemispheres by Rush
12. Dire Straits by Dire Straits
13. Outlandos D'Amour by The Police
14. 3rd by Big Star
15. All Mod Cons by The Jam
16. Chairs Missing by Wire
17. Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! by Devo
18. The Modern Dance by Pere Ubu
19. Real Life by Magazine
20. Powerage by AC/DC
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